Candidates scramble after redistricting shakes up California congressional races

Two years after Huntington Beach residents voted Effectively banning pride flags Rather than being paraded on city grounds, the conservative coastal city could be represented by Rep. Robert Garcia, a gay member of Congress and an outspoken critic of President Trump.

This twist of fate follows last year’s unprecedented mid-decade realignment of California’s congressional districts.

In November, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to neutralize Republican gerrymandering in Texas to help Democrats take control of the House of Representatives this November and put a meaningful check on the Trump administration.

The political convulsions triggered by the ballot measure have already reshaped California’s political landscape.

Rep. Darrell Issa, the senior Republican from the North San Diego District who has been a constant thorn in President Obama’s back, called for his resignation. Northern California Rep. Kevin Kiley abandoned his GOP title to run as a political independent. And two Republican congressional incumbents find themselves locked in a political deathmatch in a newly created district nestled between Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The new 42nd District remains anchored in Garcia’s home base of Long Beach. But under the new lines, it replaced Southeast Los Angeles communities like Downey and Bell Gardens with the more MAGA-friendly cities of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

“I say every time a district crosses the L.A.-Orange County border, a Democrat spreads his wings,” said Paul Mitchell, a redistricting expert who draws new boundaries for Democrats. “Drawing the Long Beach district that extends to Huntington Beach meant that you gave Robert Garcia a community that was a real anathema to him as a non-gay member of Congress on the elected City Council.”

The change means Garcia’s district has moved to the right with many more Republican voters but still has a Democratic majority. Former Vice President Kamala Harris would still win the new district by 13 points in the 2024 presidential race, giving Democrats confidence that it was still a district Garcia could win.

Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is poised to gain more leverage to push back against the Trump administration if historical precedent holds and Democrats regain the House majority in November.

Garcia was not available for an interview, but many of the new voters he will court are represented by Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who won the closely divided Orange County seat in 2024 and now faces a slightly bluer voting base in his newly reconstructed district.

“I have a lot of voters to introduce myself to,” said Min, who describes himself as a “progressive for Orange County” because he cares about protecting civil rights but often aligns himself with the interests of law enforcement and small businesses.

“Message [to new voters] You may not always agree with me, but I will do my best to do what I say. I will fight to fulfill the promises I made, I will fight for the values ​​that I care about and represent. “I also listen to my voters,” he said, noting that he recently held his seventh town hall meeting since his election.

In neighboring Orange County, Republican Reps. Young Kim and Ken Calvert will battle for control of the district’s only safe Republican seat after Proposition 50. This area also extends across county lines into Corona, Chino Hills and other parts of western Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Republicans may fear seeing two popular party leaders battling each other in what promises to be a brutal and expensive election.

“Republican voters are looking for how to distinguish two of the same kind,” said Republican political strategist Rob Stutzman. “Republican voters will like both, so how do you make that decision?

“It often comes down to who your friends are,” he said, noting that support from interest groups and other elected officials is often more valuable in primaries than in general elections.

A handful of Democratic candidates also filed for the seat, which campaign strategists said could split the liberal vote and allow both Calvert and Kim to advance to the general election.

Issa says goodbye, Kiley drops GOP hashtag

Issa’s decision to forgo reelection came as a surprise Friday, even as speculation swirled about his future after newly elected congressional districts put him in a seat where Democratic voters outnumber Republicans. That was a big drop from his current district, which swallowed right-leaning eastern San Diego County and conservative parts of Temecula and Murrieta.

“This decision has been on my mind for some time and I have not taken it lightly,” Issa said in a statement. “But after a quarter-century in Congress — and a quarter-century in business before that — the time is right for a new chapter and new challenges.”

Democrats celebrated the departure of Issa, who helped finance the successful 2003 recall of California Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and led a congressional investigation into the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi during the Obama administration.

“After more than two decades of disastrous representation, Darrell Issa is once again running for the exits — and a good riddance,” said Anna Elsasser, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Several Democrats, including San Diego City Councilwoman Marni Lynn von Wilpert, had already announced plans to challenge Issa.

Proposition 50 also split the sprawling district held by Kiley, a Republican from Rocklin, into six pieces, leaving few good options for the Northern California congressman and frequent Newsom critic.

In the months that followed, Kiley posted on social media — like the dating show “The Bachelor” — announcing that she wouldn’t run until she was in two districts: a safe Republican seat, which would force Kiley into a primary with longtime Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), or a district with a 9-point Democratic registration advantage.

Kiley chose to avoid challenging McClintock, surrendering her final rose to the new 6th District with a twist: On Friday, the congresswoman announced she would run as an independent candidate rather than a Republican.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) in his office in Washington in 2025.

(Richard Pierrin / For the Times)

In a lengthy social media post and accompanying video, Kiley said he was “disappointed, sometimes disgusted, by the extreme partisanship in Congress” and that he was responding to voters “not party leaders.”

But Republican strategist Matt Rexroad said Kiley’s campaign is “entirely his burden” because he doesn’t have a political party behind him. “He’s not going to get the approval of the party. He’s really on his own.”

Independent candidates who do not have a letter indicating their political party next to their name on the ballot have historically been lost in this confusion.

Another candidate, a Christian author named Michael Stansfield, confirmed Friday that he is filing for the nomination as a Republican, giving Kiley automatic competition for conservative votes.

Former state Sen. Richard Pan, Sacramento Dist. Several Democrats, including Trump, have already announced their campaigns for the seat, which connects Sacramento’s conservative suburbs with liberal-leaning suburbs close to the capital. Lawyer. Thien Ho, West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero and Lauren Babb, public relations leader for Planned Parenthood clinics in California and Nevada.

The race could revive a pandemic-era rivalry between Kiley and Pan, who sparred over vaccines and public health rules while serving in the state Legislature.

New regions, new rivals

For some longtime Democrats like Rep. Brad Sherman, the addition of new GOP voters could help them fend off challenges from younger progressive candidates.

A half-dozen Democrats, mostly young progressives, have filed paperwork to challenge Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), 71, who has represented parts of the San Fernando Valley for nearly 30 years.

The 32nd District remains solidly blue after Proposition 50, but barely seven point swing to the right “It makes it less likely that two Democrats will go general, which makes it less likely that it will go general [Sherman] he would get beaten,” Mitchell said.

It’s a similar story for Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento), Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) and John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), all of whom are in their 70s and 80s and are facing younger, more progressive opponents.

Rexroad said winning over more conservative voters could help some incumbents avoid facing another Democrat in November, but the threat of such a confrontation pushes them to be more active on the campaign trail.

“You see Doris Matsui, Mike Thompson and John Garamendi operating more as a result of being challenged because they love their seats and want to hold on to them,” Rexroad said.

Times writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.